The case shocked world public opinion. Today, 25 years later, she writes books and is optimistic about life
He did not lose the meaning of life. Her mind keeps going back. The images of her abduction, the horrors she experienced, her fate come back to her memory, but they don’t seem to burden her. Natasha Kampus, now 35 years old, claims speaking to the German news agency DPA that the crime determined the course of her life, but it did not define her irrevocably. What had happened then? 25 years ago, on March 2, 1998, he was kidnapped on his way to school. For 5 and a half years she was held captive in a dungeon near Vienna. The case shocked world public opinion at the time.
Locked and chained in a dungeon
Today, Kampus is a writer. After three books about her 3096 days in prison and its aftermath, she wants to give advice to other people in her fourth book Show Strength on how to live a successful life. “My book is not meant to be a guide, but a subtle reminder to know yourself and thus discover your strengths,” says Kampus. She admits she lacks some life experience, but “imprisonment hasn’t stopped me from developing maturity and knowledge,” she says, showing a cool and settled outlook on herself and life. Her case went around the world. On August 23, 2006, Kampus took advantage of a favorable situation in Strashof, an area near Vienna, to escape from her kidnapper, rapist and torturer. He was only 10 years old on the day of the abduction. Her captor, Wolfgang Priklopil, had locked her in a 5m2 cell, a windowless dungeon secured from the outside with a thick steel door. The perpetrator wanted to shape her into a woman as he wanted and preferred.
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And when Cambus managed to escape, 44-year-old Priklopil committed suicide. But the return to free life did not only have positive sides for Cambus. On the one hand she experienced a lot of sympathy and real interest in her fate, on the other she also received attacks and envy. Especially online, people accused her of being hungry for publicity and publicity and greedy for money. “I seem to polarize people,” he says. She is currently writing books and designing a jewelry collection. And he has ambitions to do good. “I’ve always wanted to do charity work,” giving the example of funding the construction of a children’s hospital in Sri Lanka. The case of her abduction is considered the largest deprivation of liberty of a child without death in Europe. She was kidnapped when she was 10 years old and escaped at 18.
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Serious omissions by the investigative authorities
In the meantime, Cambus had to live in her dungeon and always hope that her tormentor would give her food and drink. When she entered puberty, Priklopil would handcuff her and sexually abuse her. Later he gave her more freedom. Cambus took over the cleaning, kitchen duties and went to the other floors of the house. “Priklopil’s violent outbursts were terrible,” she writes in her diary. “Several times he hit me, I had black bruises under my shoulder blades and along my spine.” In February 2006, the girl turned 18 years old. In the following months, her rapist let her go to the garden, the bakery, the store with building materials. According to her, Priklopil had threatened to kill her if she escaped. But finally he dared to do it. And what did the neighbors, the police, the surrounding people do all these years? After the happy ending for Kampus it becomes increasingly clear that the authorities did not work diligently to free the girl. They overlooked important information or did not consider it carefully.
Witnesses testified that they saw Kampus being dragged into a white pickup truck. But a short time later, this van was searched and no suspicious items were found. A police officer who knew Priklopil somewhat described him as a lonely guy with sexual perversions of children. But what a surprise. A police officer gives the profile of the perpetrator, but the information is “drowned” in the sloppiness. The girl could have been released just 6 weeks after her abduction. A commission of inquiry later set up by the head of the German Crime Fighting Agency Jörg Zirke denounced, like other commissions, mistakes by the investigating authorities. But Natasha looks ahead. She has filled her energy stores again and says she spends a lot of time in nature and with her horse. He still wants to be more involved in sports. “I’m in a positive mood, I’m all optimism.”
Source :Skai
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
